How to sublet your tenant-owned apartment

What new rules for subletting a tenant-owned apartment have applied since 1 July 2026?

On 1 July 2026, 7 kap. 10 and 11 §§ bostadsrättslagen were reworded (SFS 2026:776). This is how they read today. Hyresnämnden (the Regional Rent Tribunal) can grant permission if you have good reason and the association has no justified ground for refusing. Earlier sublettings are taken into account only if they were substantial. If the apartment is not used as a permanent home, or otherwise not to a noteworthy extent, each letting counts as independent use and requires the board's consent. The new second paragraph of section 10 does not apply to lettings made before 1 July 2026.

So for a tenant-owned apartment, having a reason is enough. For a rental apartment, jordabalken (the Swedish Land Code) requires noteworthy reasons, and Sveriges Domstolar describes the rules for tenant-owned apartments as more generous. On the same day, privatuthyrningslagen (2026:772) began to apply to new tenancy agreements.

Source: Bostadsrättslag (1991:614), 7 kap. (riksdagen.se), Sveriges Domstolar: Hyra ut bostadsrätt i andra hand, Privatuthyrningslag (2026:772) (riksdagen.se). We have not retrieved the wording of 7 kap. 10 and 11 §§ from before 1 July 2026, so the guide does not compare against it.

Which reasons are enough for hyresnämnden?

Sveriges Domstolar mentions letting to a close relative, an apartment you have bought to live in when you retire, and the apartment being temporarily hard to sell, normally for at most one year. Work or studies in another place and a trial period of living together also count. The permission is limited to a set period and can come with conditions (7 kap. 11 §).

Source: Sveriges Domstolar: Hyra ut bostadsrätt i andra hand, Bostadsrättslag (1991:614), 7 kap. (riksdagen.se).

Can the association charge a fee?

Only if the articles of association say so. The fee may be at most ten per cent of the price base amount per apartment and year, calculated per month if you sublet for part of a year (7 kap. 14 §). If you are more than a week late paying it, the right of use may be forfeited (7 kap. 18 §).

Source: Bostadsrättslag (1991:614), 7 kap. (riksdagen.se).

Which law applies to the tenancy agreement?

A tenancy agreement made from 1 July 2026 follows privatuthyrningslagen (2026:772). It applies when a private individual or an estate of a deceased person lets out a home, but not if you yourself hold the home as a rental apartment, regularly let out more than two apartments apart from your own home, or let for leisure purposes (1 kap. 1 och 3 §§). Terms in the agreement that are worse for the tenant than the law do not apply against the tenant (1 kap. 4 §).

Form requirements for new agreements

The agreement must be put in writing if you or the tenant ask for it (1 kap. 5 §). If the agreement runs until further notice, or states no rental period, it continues until someone gives notice (1 kap. 6 §). Notice must be in writing. The tenant may give notice orally only if you give a written acknowledgement (6 kap. 7 §). If the other party has given an email address for messages about the agreement, it is enough to send the notice there (6 kap. 8 §).

Notice period

An agreement that runs until further notice can be terminated by both you and the tenant for the end of a month at least three months after the notice (6 kap. 2 §). A fixed-term agreement ends when the term expires, but the tenant may always terminate it in the same way, with three months to the end of a month (6 kap. 1 §). The law gives no right to an extension. When the rental period has ended, the tenant must leave the home by 12 noon the next day, unless you have agreed otherwise (6 kap. 12 §).

Agreements from before 1 July 2026

Agreements made before 1 July 2026 still follow the older law (2012:978) om uthyrning av egen bostad (transitional provision 3). It applies only to the first apartment you let out, outside a business and not for leisure purposes; otherwise 12 kap. jordabalken applies (1 §). Under that law the tenant gives one month's notice and you give three, and the tenant has no right to an extension (3 §).

Source: Privatuthyrningslag (2026:772) (riksdagen.se), Lag (2012:978) om uthyrning av egen bostad (riksdagen.se), Sveriges Domstolar: Hyra ut egen bostad.

How much rent can you charge?

For agreements from 1 July 2026, you and the tenant agree on the rent, and it must be stated as a fixed amount. You may still agree that the tenant pays for heating, hot water, electricity and water according to consumption. If you have not agreed on the rent, a reasonable amount is paid (2 kap. 1 §). Rent is paid in advance, unless otherwise agreed, no later than the last working day before each new month (2 kap. 2 §).

The tenant can apply to hyresnämnden at any time for a change of rent. If the rent is substantially higher than what is generally charged for similar homes let under privatuthyrningslagen, the tribunal reduces it to a reasonable amount (2 kap. 5 §). The new rent applies from the date of the application, and what you have received in excess you repay with interest (2 kap. 6 §). So the law sets no limit based on your costs, but compares with other private lettings. You may also agree that the rent follows an index. It then changes after one year at the earliest and after written notice (2 kap. 4 §).

For agreements under the older law (2012:978), the rent may not markedly exceed the capital cost and running cost of the home (4 §). The capital cost is a reasonable rate of return on the home's market value, and Sveriges Domstolar gives a couple of percentage points above Riksbanken's reference rate as a guide. The running cost is, for example, the fee to the association, electricity and broadband.

Source: Privatuthyrningslag (2026:772) (riksdagen.se), Lag (2012:978) om uthyrning av egen bostad (riksdagen.se), Sveriges Domstolar: Hyra ut egen bostad.

How much tax do you pay?

You deduct a standard deduction of 40,000 kronor per home and year, and the part of the annual fee that relates to the letting, excluding capital contributions (42 kap. 30 och 31 §§ inkomstskattelagen). You can also deduct the fee you pay to the association for the subletting. The surplus is taxed at 30 per cent as capital income.

Skatteverket's example: you let for 12,000 kronor a month for eight months, so 96,000 kronor. The monthly fee is 6,800 kronor, of which 300 is a capital contribution, so you deduct 6,500 kronor for eight months, 52,000 kronor. The subletting fee is 100 kronor a month, 800 kronor. The surplus is 96,000 minus 40,000, 52,000 and 800, so 3,200 kronor, and the tax 960 kronor.

Source: Inkomstskattelag (1999:1229), 42 kap. (riksdagen.se), Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency): Hyra ut privatbostad, bostadsrätt, småhus och hyresrätt.

What happens if you sublet without consent?

Then the right of use may be forfeited, meaning the association can terminate your tenancy (7 kap. 18 §). You cannot be given notice if you put it right as soon as possible after being told to, or if you apply to hyresnämnden as soon as possible and the application is granted (7 kap. 20 §).

Source: Bostadsrättslag (1991:614), 7 kap. (riksdagen.se).

Templates for subletting a tenant-owned apartment

Application to the board and rental agreement with the tenant. The guide shows what an application to hyresnämnden should contain, with link to the form. Subletting contract for a rental apartment is in the guide on how to sublet a rental apartment, and other contracts among templates for rental contracts. All templates on the site are collected under templates for the move.

The law behind it

The sections summarised, with a link to the legal text on riksdagen.se.